The invention relates to a fifth wheel comprising a coupling plate and an anti-theft protection device.
In automobile construction, fifth wheels are used to connect a truck tractor to a trailer to form a truck-tractor combination. The fifth wheel consists of a coupling plate on the tractor and a kingpin on the trailer. In the coupling plate there is made a receiving opening for receiving the kingpin. In the coupled-up state, the kingpin is detachably secured in the receiving opening by a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism is locked for increased safety in traffic and the locking is monitored with displays in the vehicle cab. In recent years, laden truck-tractor combinations and those which are parked in the coupled-up state have increasingly been stolen. The mechanical locking is forcefully broken open, the coupling is decoupled and the trailer is illegally hauled away with a third-party tractor.
From DE 19516101 A1, an anti-theft protection device for a coupled-up semitrailer is known. The anti-theft protection device consists of a ram, which acts counter to a spring force in a tubular body upon the locking mechanism beneath the coupling plate and can be closed off with a cylinder lock and actuated manually. The cylinder lock can be viewed from the outside and the location of the anti-theft protection device is discernible.
The object of the invention is to define a fifth wheel having an anti-theft protection device which is automatically lockable and which can be destroyed only with a relatively high time expenditure.